Four months before Wilson’s death (in 1948, at age 48) and broke, after he was promoted by the city of Baltimore from laborer to swimming pool manager, told a reporter from the Associated Press:

“I guess getting back into baseball is all I think about now, but so far I haven’t had much success. I’ve written to almost all the important men I know, but the answer is always the same—‘sorry, we’re all filled up.'”

Wilson talks with Baltimore children at the municipal pool he managed, July 1948